Jump Cup

ABSTRACT

A jump cup for supporting a cross bar between two jump standards includes an attachment region to hold the jump cup on a standard, a support region to hold an end of a cross bar, and a lock region to prevent the attachment region from sliding out of the standard. The support region has multiple support members to distribute the weight of the cross bar, and the force of a horse coming down on the crossbar, such that the jump cup does not dangerously deform. A safety mechanism is also presented that allows for release of the support region from the attachment region if a threshold force is applied to the support region.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to Provisional Patent Application No. 61/605,988, filed Mar. 02, 2012, which is hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to jump cups that support a cross bar over which horses jump during equestrian activities, and more particularly to jump cups that are adjustable with one hand.

BACKGROUND

Horse jumping is a well-known equestrian sport where riders on horses jump over barriers, or horse jumps, of varying height. Jumps are generally comprised of a horizontal cross bar supported between vertical supports, or standards, by jump cups attached to the standards. The jump cups are typically adjustable vertically on the standards in order to raise and lower the cross bar to a desired height.

While there are various methods of attaching a jump cup to a standard, the style that is relevant to the present invention includes a standard has a series of through-holes along the height of the standard where a pin can be inserted to hold a jump cup at a selected height. The holes on this type of standard have a major axis that is perpendicular to the major axis of a supported cross bar. Unless specifically

Some jump cups used with the can be inefficient, requiring two hands and complete removal of the cross bar to install or adjust. Having to use two hands to adjust the height of cross bar is inefficient and cumbersome, as some cross bars can be very long and weight quite a bit.

There have been some attempts to produce a jump cup that can be adjusted on a standard using one hand, leaving the other hand to lift and hold an end of a cross bar while the jump cup is adjusted; however, the present attempts can be costly to manufacture, have unsafe designs, or can have inherent durability issues. For example, some one-handed jump cups use a curved plate welded to other that secure the jump cup to the standard. On top of welds that can fail, the solid curved plates have a tendency to collect water if left outdoors, which rusts the jump cup and can rot wooden cross bars held therein. Further, rusty water from the jump cup can streak down the standard and cause unsightly staining.

Some one handed jump cups are available that forego a curved plate and use only bent or welded metal rod material. While avoiding the water collection, these options have thus far only included a single support member for a cross bar, which is relatively weak being at the end of a long moment-arm. If the support member of this type of jump cup is deflected downward due to excessive force applied to a cross bar without immediately being knocked out of the cup, the effective depth of the support increases and can prevent the cross bar from rolling out of the jump cup. This can cause serious harm to a horse or its rider.

While some jump cups with safety features have been developed to release from the standards when a horse comes down on a cross bar, each has been developed as a pinless jump cup adapted to be secured to different types of standards than the version described above. No jump cup with a safety device has been produced for use with a standard having the perpendicular height-adjustment holes described above.

Thus, it is advantageous to provide a jump cup that is safe, durable, economically manufactured, and easily installed with one hand.

SUMMARY

A jump cup according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises an attachment region; a support region; and a locking region; wherein the attachment region is comprised of a pin and a connector, the pin going into a hole in a jump standard, and the connector connecting the pin and the support region; wherein the support region is comprised of a plurality of support members, with each support member being aligned so as to define a cup region; and wherein the locking region is comprised of a protrusion that extends rearward to engage the jump standard and prevent the pin from sliding out of the hole.

The jump cup further comprises a safety mechanism disposed on the connector, the safety mechanism arranged to release the support region from the pin upon application of a release load applied to the support region.

The safety mechanism is, in some embodiments, a coupler having a first side and a second side, the first side being rigidly connected to the pin and the second side being releasably connected to the support region.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

The accompanying figures, which together with the detailed description below are incorporated in and form part of the specification, serve to further illustrate various embodiments and to explain various principles and advantages all in accordance with the present invention, in which like numerals designate like elements and in which:

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a horse jump utilizing a first embodiment of a jump cup;

FIG. 2 is an isometric view of the jump cup of FIG. 1 installed on a standard;

FIGS. 3A-3B are side views of a jump cup being installed onto a standard;

FIG. 4 is a top view of a jump cup installed on a standard;

FIG. 5 is a bottom view of a jump cup;

FIG. 6 is a rear view of a jump cup;

FIG. 7 is a front view of a jump cup;

FIG. 8 is an isometric view of a second embodiment of a jump cup; and

FIGS. 9A-9D are cross-sectional views of a safety mechanism shown in FIG. 8 along a centerline thereof.

Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The invention is directed to a jump cup used as part of a horse jump.

A conventional horse jump 10 for equestrian activities, depicted in FIG. 1, includes at least one horizontal cross bar 13 supported at each end by a jump cup 20. Each jump cup 20 is adjustably affixed to a vertical standard 11. A typical standard 11 has a series of vertically-spaced horizontal adjustment holes 12 where a jump cup 20 can be affixed to set the height of cross bar 13. The cross bar 13 is raised or lowered along the height of the standard 11 in order to adjust the difficulty of the jump.

While FIG. 1 shows a single cross bar 13, it is well-known in the art to include space-fillers below a top cross bar to visually fill the space to more clearly define the jump area or to provide advertising space. These space-fillers can include an additional cross bar, or several cross bars, held with jump cups on one or both ends; planters; signs, etc. In the case of multiple cross bars 13 being used in a single horse jump 10, more than two jump cups 20 can be used per jump.

FIG. 2 shows a close-up of jump cup 20 installed on standard 11. Jump cup 20 is comprised of three main areas: attachment region 30, support region 40, and locking region 50. Attachment region 30 includes pin 31 and connector 32. When installed, pin 31 is inside of adjustment hole 12 of standard 11, support region 40 is against an inside face of standard 11, connector 32 is against one side face of standard 11, and locking region 50 is against the opposite side face of standard 11. Thus, when installed, jump cup 20 forms a saddle, or engaging concave surface, around the standard 11.

FIGS. 3A and 3B show an example of the jump cup 20 being installed. In FIG. 3A, pin 31 is aligned with an adjustment hole 12 while support region 40 is tilted upward so that locking region 50 is in front of an inside face of standard 11. Jump cup 20 can them be moved along the major axis of pin 31 until connector 32 abuts one side of the standard 11, and locking region 50 clears the inside face of standard 11. The jump cup is then rotated about pin 31 so that support region 40 abuts the inside face of standard 11 (shown slightly away from the face in the figure for clarity) and locking region 50 moves alongside a side face of the standard 11 opposite connector 32. A top view of the installed configuration is also seen in FIG. 4. Note that while pin 31 is shown to go only partially through the width of standard 11, the length end of pin 31 can be longer than the width of standard 11 to accommodate various standards designs, such as hollow standards or the like.

As seen in FIG. 3B, when a cross bar 13 is placed in support region 40, it is held by multiple support members 41. The multiple support members 41 distribute the load of cross bar 13 at various distances from standard 11. This distributed load helps to prevent the support region 40 from bending or deflecting downward when excessive downward force is applied to the cross bar 13, such as when a horse comes down on the cross bar during a jump without releasing the cross bar 13 from the support region 40. Furthermore, if an excessive load does cause bending, the appreciable cup depth is substantially maintained at support members closer to the standard 11, thereby allowing the cross bar 13 to roll out of jump cup 20 in an expected manner.

FIG. 5 shows a bottom view of jump cup 20. In this embodiment, locking region 50 is bent by an angle α (alpha) in a direction away from connector 32. This angle allows for easier installation of jump cup 20 on standard 11 and less of a chance of gouging out standard 11 with an end of locking region 50. Also, the dimensions and angle of locking region 50 can be selected so as to wedge against standard 11, snugging connector 32 to the standard 11 for a more stable fit.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show one embodiment of the relative depth of support region 40. The deeper the support region 40, the more lateral force the cross bar 13 can endure before coming out of the jump cup 20. The depth of the support region 40 can be altered to provide a desired level of difficulty, such as a smaller depth, or flat support, for less experienced horses or riders. If support region 40 were too deep, a horse could trip going over the jump 10 and cause injury to itself or its rider.

While the embodiments shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 show locking region 50 having no vertical bend, a vertical bend or general curvature is contemplated.

FIG. 8 shows a second embodiment of the invention where jump cup 200 is similar to jump cup 20 except for a safety mechanism 600 disposed between support region 400 and pin 310. While safety mechanism 600 is shown to be in the middle of connector 320, it could function just as well anywhere along attachment region 300 such that excessive force applied to support region 400 would separate support region 400 from all or some of attachment region 300. In practice, this would help prevent injury to a horse or rider when force from hitting cross beam 13 does not immediately release the cross beam 13 from support region 400 by allowing the support region 400 (and cross beam 13) to be released from the standard.

FIGS. 9A-9D show various embodiments of safety mechanism 600. FIG. 9A shows a safety mechanism 600 as a collar. Connector 320 is cut or otherwise formed as two pieces (320 a and 320 b) with each piece being held in a respective end of the safety mechanism 600. The two ends can be press-fit into the safety mechanism 600, with tolerances set to allow release of the support region 400 upon a predetermined tensile force. Optionally, one end of safety mechanism 600 could fit tighter than the other, so that it is known which end will release. Similarly, one end can be held in place by adhesive or other chemical or physical bond.

In FIG. 9B, two ends 320 a and 320 b are held in safety mechanism 600 by a physical fastener, such as set screws 610. The set screws 610 can be adapted to hold ends 320 a and 320 b with different holding forces. This can be accomplished by tightening one screw more than the other; using screws with pointed, flat, or rounded tips to alter the force needed to pull an end out; using different materials such as nylon or plastic for the set screws 610 or their tips in order to alter the coefficient of friction; off-setting the set screws 610 to hit connector end 320 a or 320 b off-center (i.e. in a direction other than radially inward); or any other method of producing different holding forces.

FIG. 9C shows a third embodiment of safety mechanism 600 using a set screw 610 on one end 320 b as described above, and a biased ball structure 630 going into a groove 630 on the other end 320 a. This arrangement can also be reversed so that the spring and ball 630 are in the safety mechanism 600 and groove 620 is in end 320 a. Also, set screw 610 can be press fit or replaced with adhesive or other chemical or physical joinery. In this arrangement, the biased ball structure 630 can provide an adjustable release pressure by altering the biasing force of a ball into the groove 620, such as by advancing or retracting a set screw to alter the compression of a biasing member against the ball.

FIG. 9D shows a fourth embodiment of safety mechanism 600 joining ends 320 a and 320 b as described in any of the above embodiments, with the safety mechanism 600 being scored or formed with a line of weakness 640 that is designed to fracture or otherwise fail upon experiencing a threshold force.

Safety mechanism 600 can take other forms than an external collar. For example, having a press fit rod inserted inside bores within ends 320 a and 320 b would be possible (not shown). Similar to a compression fitting around the connector 320, the rod can be formed to a tolerance to be pulled out against frictional forces, or can be held in connector 320 with set screws, springs, etc. Alternatively, the rod can be frangible similar to the safety mechanism of FIG. 9D. Further, ends 320 a and 320 b can be held together with the use of magnets with known separation strengths that release upon a threshold load.

While the above methods of releasing the support region 400 from pin 310 have been disclosed, any method of releasably connecting two parts together can be used to release support region 400 under undesirable loads.

While the foregoing have described jump cups for holding generally cylindrical cross bars, the jump cups can also be configured to hold planks, gates or other obstacles and fillers having flat ends not intended to roll out of a cup. For flat ends, the jump cups would have a flat support region 40/400 (i.e. have zero cup depth).

Regarding materials used for making jump cup 20/200, any rigid material that can hold a cross bar and resist appreciable deformation while mounted for moderate forces applied to the support area can be used. These moderate forces should be at a minimum the release force chosen in the safety mechanism, if used.

The material should be able to resist the elements as the jump cups could be left outside for extended periods of time. This resistance can be accomplished by using a rust-proof metal such as stainless steel, a painted or coated non-stainless metal, plastics or other polymers, or composite materials.

One preferred material is metal bar material having a substantially constant cross-section that can be fed through a bending machine to form the jump cup in a single length of bent material. While a solid circular cross-section is shown in the drawings, any suitable cross-section can be used, including ovals or polygons, and can be solid or hollow/tubular. The lack of a need to weld any part of a jump cup formed this was reduces manufacturing costs as it removes an expensive step, and further can improve safety by removing concern that a weld joint can fail. Also, because no plate material is used, there is little risk of water accumulation on or around the jump cup, eliminating concerns of rust, rot, or staining due to water accumulation.

While the invention has been discussed primarily in the context of horse jumps, the jump cups may be used for adjustably holding an end of a pole, bar or gate. For example, the jump cups can hold a crossbar for a hurdle, a fence post, a banner pole, or any other suitable application.

In the foregoing specification, specific embodiments of the present invention have been described. However, one of ordinary skill in the art appreciates that various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention as set forth in the claims below.

Accordingly, the specification and figures are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense, and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of present invention. The benefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any element(s) that may cause any benefit, advantage, or solution to occur or become more pronounced are not to be construed as a critical, required, or essential features or elements of any or all the claims. The invention is defined solely by the appended claims including any amendments made during the pendency of this application and all equivalents of those claims as issued. 

We claim:
 1. A jump cup for holding an end of a cross bar on a jump standard, the jump cup comprising: a support region adapted to hold an end of a cross bar, the support region having a plurality of support members; an attachment region having a pin and a connector, the pin going into a hole in a jump standard and the connector connecting the pin and the support region; and a locking region comprised of a protrusion that extends rearward to engage the jump standard and prevent the pin from sliding out of the hole.
 2. The jump cup of claim 1, wherein each of the support members is curved upward, with each support member being aligned with the other support members so as to define a concave cylindrical cup geometry.
 3. The jump cup of claim 1, further comprising a safety mechanism disposed on the connector, the safety mechanism arranged to release the support region from the pin upon application of a release load on applied to the support region.
 4. The jump cup of claim 2, wherein the safety mechanism is a coupler having a first side and a second side, the first side being rigidly connected to the pin and the second side being releasably connected to the support region, whereby a threshold force applied to the support region will release the support region from the pin.
 5. A jump cup for holding an end of a cross bar on a jump standard, the jump cup comprising: a support region adapted to hold an end of a cross bar; an attachment region having a pin and a connector, the pin going into a hole in a jump standard, and the connector connecting the pin and the support region; a locking region comprised of a protrusion that extends rearward to engage a jump standard and prevent the pin from sliding out of the hole; and a safety mechanism disposed on the connector, the safety mechanism arranged to release the support region from the pin upon application of a release load on applied to the support region. 